System and method of processing payment transactions via mobile devices

Abstract

A system and method for securing and processing payment transactions of varying payment transaction types via mobile devices is provided. An adaptive payment server can accept requests from a mobile device to process different types of payment transactions via various types of payment devices (for example, credit cards, debit cards, EBT cards, or other payment cards). Credit card transactions, debit card transactions, EBT cash benefits transactions, and/or EBT food stamps transactions can be processed based on identification information retrieved from a corresponding reader device, coupled to the mobile device, and configured to encrypt identification information directly detected by and/or received from the mobile device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer storage medium storing computer-useable instructions that, when used by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 receiving an input that corresponds to a transaction type selected from a plurality of transaction types presented via a user interface provided for display by the computing device;   based at least in part on the received input, receiving one or more pieces of identification information encrypted by a reader device coupled to the computing device, wherein the one or more encrypted pieces of identification information corresponds to the selected transaction type;   generating a request to process a transaction that corresponds to the selected transaction type based at least in part on the received one or more encrypted pieces of identification information; and   transmitting the generated request, via a network, to a remote server configured to process requests generated based on one or more encrypted pieces of identification information that correspond to any one of the plurality of transaction types presented via the displayed user interface.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the reader device is independent from the computing device. 
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein reader device and the computing device are coupled via one of a wired link and a pluggable interface. 
     
     
         4 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more encrypted pieces of identification is received based further in part on a generated prompt presented via the displayed user interface. 
     
     
         5 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 4 , wherein the presented prompt includes a request for additional information for generating the request. 
     
     
         6 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 5 , wherein the additional information includes authentication information. 
     
     
         7 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 6 , wherein the authentication information includes at least one of a signature and a predefined secret. 
     
     
         8 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 receiving a first piece of unencrypted identification information via the displayed user interface;   communicating the received first piece of unencrypted identification information to the reader device, wherein the reader device is configured to encrypt the communicated first piece of unencrypted identification information, and further encrypt a second piece of unencrypted identification information detected directly thereby;   receiving the encrypted first and second pieces of identification information from the reader device, wherein the request to process the transaction is generated based at least in part on the received encrypted first and second pieces of identification information.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 8 , wherein the reader device is further configured to encrypt a third piece of unencrypted identification information detected directly thereby, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 receiving the encrypted third piece of identification information from the reader device, wherein the request to process the transaction is generated based further in part on the received encrypted third piece of identification information   
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 9 , wherein the reader device is further configured to encrypt a fourth piece of unencrypted identification information detected directly thereby, wherein the instructions further cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 receiving the encrypted fourth piece of identification information from the reader device, wherein the request to process the transaction is generated based further in part on the received encrypted fourth piece of identification information   
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the reader includes at least one of a magnetic stripe reader and a smart chip reader. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the reader includes at least one of a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag reader and a Near Field Communication (NFC) tag reader. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the reader device is configured to employ Derived Unique Key Per Transaction (DUKPT) key management to encrypt unencrypted identification information. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions cause the computing device to perform operations further comprising:
 storing, based at least in part on the transmission of the generated request, at least a portion of the one or more pieces of identification information in a transaction log stored by the computing device.   
     
     
         15 . A computer-implemented method for securing mobile transactions, the method comprising:
 receiving, by a mobile computing device, an input that corresponds to a transaction type selected from a plurality of transaction types presented on a displayed user interface via a touchscreen of the mobile computing device;   based at least in part on the received input, receiving, by the mobile computing device, one or more pieces of identification information encrypted by a reader device coupled to the mobile computing device, wherein the one or more encrypted pieces of identification information corresponds to the selected transaction type;   generating, by the mobile computing device, a request to process a transaction that corresponds to the selected transaction type based at least in part on the received one or more encrypted pieces of identification information; and   transmitting, by the mobile computing device, the generated request to a remote server configured to process requests generated based on the one or more encrypted pieces of identification information corresponding to any one of the plurality of transaction types presented on the displayed user interface of the mobile computing device.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the reader device and the mobile computing device are coupled via one of a wired link and a pluggable interface. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , the method further comprising:
 receiving, by the mobile computing device, a first piece of unencrypted identification information via the touchscreen of the mobile computing device;   communicating, by the mobile computing device, the received first piece of unencrypted identification information to the reader device, wherein the reader device is configured to encrypt the communicated first piece of unencrypted identification information, and further encrypt a second piece of unencrypted identification information detected directly thereby;   receiving, by the mobile computing device, the encrypted first and second pieces of identification information from the reader device, wherein the request to process the transaction is generated based at least in part on the received encrypted first and second pieces of identification information.   
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , the method further comprising:
 based at least in part on the transmission of the generated request, storing, by the mobile computing device, at least a portion of the one or more pieces of identification information in a memory of the computing device.   
     
     
         19 . A secure mobile transaction device, comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more computer storage media storing computer-usable instructions that, when used by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to:
 receive an input that corresponds to a transaction type selected from a plurality of transaction types presented on a touchscreen of the mobile computing device via a user interface; 
 based at least in part on the received input, receive a piece of identification information encrypted by a coupled reader device, wherein the encrypted piece of identification information corresponds to the selected transaction type; 
 generate a request to process a transaction that corresponds to the selected transaction type based at least in part on the received encrypted piece of identification information; and 
 transmit the generated request to a remote server configured to process transaction requests generated based on encrypted pieces of identification information that each corresponds to one of the presented plurality of transaction types. 
   
     
     
         20 . The secure mobile transaction device of  claim 19 , wherein the instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
 receive another piece of identification information via the touchscreen of the secure mobile transaction device;   communicate the received other piece of identification information to the coupled reader device, wherein the coupled reader device is configured to encrypt the communicated other piece of identification information; and   receive the encrypted other piece of identification information from the coupled reader device, wherein the request to process the transaction is generated based further in part on the received encrypted other piece of identification information.